Sergio Mariotti

Politecnico di Milano | Polimi · Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering DIG

This paper explores the potential of Open Strategic Autonomy to effectively foster industrial policies that boost EU competitiveness and growth. It investigates changes in the global economy and international order, with a focus on two key concepts: the "win-lose" reconfiguration of globalization and the resurgence of nations as "confrontational st...

Purpose After decades of hypergrowth, since the 2008 global financial crisis there has been a deceleration of globalization and a partial jamming of its main engines (trade and foreign direct investment [FDI]). This study aims to critically reflect on the current phase, labeling it as “win-lose globalization” characterized by firm-firm competition...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is anticipated to reshape the economy by revolutionizing human interaction with technology. Despite its significance, research endeavors in the field of economics remain relatively limited. In this editorial, we outline the articles featured in a Virtual Special Issue designed to expand the scope of inquiry for economis...

By its very nature, competition policy has a double face vis-à-vis foreign direct investment (FDI), as it can encourage inflows into the country by ensuring a level playing field for all investors (domestic and foreign), but also be captured and misused to discourage FDI in the name of superior national interests or under pressure from lobbying gro...

This article offers a descriptive summary of the fifty years of the Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, with information and data on the protagonists, governance, issues and changes that have taken place in half a century. Reference is first made to the Italian context, in which the Journal was born and grew, and then to the international...

Economics and engineering have often intertwined, through the sharing of mathematical modeling tools, analogies and the migration of concepts. These processes have contributed to bridging the epistemological gap between the two disciplines and above all they have fueled a contamination that has allowed the advancement of knowledge. However, this ex...

The Russian–Ukrainian war is a dramatic effect of the growing imbalances and instability of the global economic and political order, together with other effects that this contribution analyzes. This paper in fact offers empirical evidence of a rampant “global protectionism”, the slowdown of the world’s economy in the long term, and the changing str...

This paper contributes to the debate on the relationship between economics and engineering that was opened in a previous article by the author and the comments made on the subject by other scholars, all published in the 4/2021 Issue of the Journal. It discusses the knowledge advancement and problem-solving opportunities offered by the interaction a...

This article develops a comparative institutionalist framework to investigate how pro-enforcement reforms leading to a change in competition policy regimes attracts FDI in host countries, and how this relationship is moderated by the interplay between key formal and informal institutions. We revisit the FDI theory by integrating insights from econo...

Economists and engineers have played a vital role in addressing the challenges posed by economic and technological progress. Related disciplines have intertwined with each other, leading to mutual cross-fertilization. However, their roles and relationships need to be reconsidered in a society increasingly influenced by the cluster of organizational...

This paper investigates how important sources of heterogeneity shape the way in which family firms (FFs) enter foreign markets. By integrating insights from International Business and Family Business literature, we claim that the interplay between the generation ruling the firm and the presence of non-family board members direct the choice between...

This paper investigates the role of geographical and temporary proximity in the location and co-location decisions of manufacturing activities by foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs). Empirical analysis shows that foreign MNEs co-locate their new manufacturing plants with their plants already operating in the same manufacturing activity, while...

Research Summary We investigate when and how a foreign multinational enterprise by acting as a relational co‐owner helps the internationalization of hybrid state‐owned enterprises. We merge the “liability of stateness” and the “government as strategist” perspectives with an institutional context‐based approach. We claim that the effect of multinati...

Research summary Our study provides a quasi–replication of Shaver and Flyer (2000), which was among the first studies that challenged the positive role of agglomeration in determining companies' location choice and performances, thus changing the way management scholars view companies' attitude towards agglomeration forces. We employ the same resea...

This article sheds light on how the internationalization of state-owned enterprises is influenced by the state involvement in ownership and by the home country’s institutional settings. Integrating international business literature with the debate on the varieties of capitalism, we contend that state-dominated enterprises internationalize more (les...

The paper analyses how foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) in service sector impact domestic manufacturing companies. We argue that the impact on the productivity of local upstream and downstream companies differs due to the heterogeneity of services. We investigate a sample of foreign MNEs located in Italy, finding that: (i) local suppliers e...

Extant literature on foreign entry increasingly recognizes firms' heterogeneity as a potential reason for inconsistency in results on the establishment mode choice, that is, whether and under which conditions firms should choose to enter a new country through a greenfield investment or an acquisition. Our study contributes to this debate by identif...

Mariotti S., Mutinelli M., Nicolini M. and Piscitello L. Productivity spillovers from foreign multinational enterprises to domestic manufacturing firms: to what extent does spatial proximity matter?, Regional Studies. This paper analyses the role of spatial proximity in productivity spillovers from foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs). Using a...

This article contributes to the understanding of the role of European governments in fostering new global players in the utilities. We argue that the international growth of firms stems from their interaction with governments, which act not only as rule setters but also as goal-oriented strategists, through public policies and mechanisms ranging fr...

This article assesses the influence of spatial heterogeneity on the entry mode by multinational enterprises (MNEs) in foreign markets. Focusing on acquisitions, we claim that the location of the target firm influences the MNE's ownership choice. MNEs normally execute partial acquisitions to reduce their liability of foreignness and to preserve thei...

Greenfield foreign direct investment is commonly regarded as a strategic factor for the economic growth of a country. Unfortunately, Italy has experienced a significant decline over time of greenfield initiatives by multinational enterprises. This paper offers a preliminary descriptive analysis of trends and features of greenfield FDIs and relevant...

This paper deals with backward and forward linkages stemming from foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) in service sectors, and their impact on the productivity of local manufacturing firms. Using a database on foreign MNEs in service sectors in Italy, over the period 1999–2005, we find that: (i) backward linkages impact local supplier firms’ pr...

This article investigates outward FDI from Italy during the 2006-2011 period. The descriptive statistics show the difficulties in Italy's capacity to promote direct investment abroad during the current economic crisis. Nonetheless, some signs of new internationalization trends are detected.

The increasing competition between governments to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) can be attributed to their prominent role in promoting knowledge-sharing, innovation and growth. The fact that Italy has always been a laggard in such initiatives has further blemished the country’s attractiveness to foreign investors. Based on the past experi...

The paper analyses productivity spillovers from foreign MNEs on domestic manufacturing firms. Using a database on foreign MNEs in Italy, our results reveal that local firms do benefit from the presence of foreign MNEs, and the effect is higher when local and foreign firms in manufacturing sectors are co-located. However, spillovers benefiting domes...

Like manufacturing multinational enterprises, multinational banks, although being more subject to local regulation and market preferences, are increasingly changing their international attitude. Namely, they rely on foreign activities not only as a means to exploit their own competitive advantages within foreign markets, but also to access exclusiv...

This study suggests a model for the agglomerative behavior of multinational enterprises (MNEs) with local competitors. Relying on MNEs' spatial distribution across 686 Italian territorial units, we find that MNEs' location behavior is influenced by (i) information externalities, giving rise to locational cascades and the imitation of other MNEs and...

This article investigates FDI trends in Italy during the 2000-2008 period. The descriptive statistics show a sharp decline in Italy’s capacity to attract international investment. Moreover, the widening of the gap between Italy and its main European partners (France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom) as an FDI-recipient country leads us to conclude t...

This paper deals with forward and backward linkages stemming from foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) in services sectors and their impact on the productivity of local manufacturing firms. We distinguish between pecuniary and technological spillovers. Using a database on foreign MNEs in service sectors in Italy, over the 1999-2005 period, we f...

Trends in FDIs after the financial crisis: what’s going on? - This article investigates the recent trends in FDIs, focussing on the effects provoked by the financial crisis. The crisis has impacted in a significant manner on the more volatile component of FDIs, i.e. cross-border M&As. On the contrary, forecasts for greenfield FDIs are just in line...

The literature on firms' export performance has traditionally related it either to ownership and location advantages or to factorial endowment of firms and countries. This paper aims at extending the determinants of firms' export capacity, including factors related to the international involvement of both the firms and their environment. The empiri...

This study suggests a model for the agglomerative behaviour of MNEs with local competitors. Relying on foreign MNEs’ spatial distribution across 686 Italian Local Labor Systems, we find that MNEs’ locational behaviour is influenced by (i) informational externalities, giving rise to locational cascades and imitation of other foreign MNEs, and (ii) p...

The evolution of Italian multinational firms and the emergence of fourth capitalism - The purpose of this article is to outline the evolution of Italian multinational firms during the 2001-2007 period. The descriptive statistics show that a selected group of medium-sized firms has outperformed the other Italian multinationals in terms of growth rat...

The paper argues that structural and behavioural determinants combine to influence internationalisation of production through FDI by industrial districts' firms. As far as the former, leadership effects, represented by the presence of large firms within the district, and Porterian effects, denoted by the intensity of domestic rivalry, positively in...

The paper deals with the formation and evolution of the world city network in the context of global urbanization. According to Braudel's historical studies, the paper argues that city networks originally emerged in the transition from feudalism to capitalism, in parallel with the institutional competition between city-state and national territorial...

This paper represents one of the first investigations of the multinational growth, through foreign direct investment (FDI), of Italian industrial districts. Although data and statistics reveal a rather low propensity to undertake FDI, industrial districts show a noteworthy (inter-district) heterogeneity in their attitude towards multinational growt...

The formation within industrial districts of ‘multinational groups’ composed of local enterprises and units with a parent company in Italy and affiliates in other countries is an issue closely linked to internationalisation of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), that constitute the fundamental ecological units of the country’s industrial...

The present paper provides further insights on the relationship between home country employment and foreign direct investment (FDI) undertaken by national firms. The unit of analysis is each ensemble of firms operating in the same industrial sector and localised in the same geographical region. That allows us to capture both direct and indirect eff...

After a prolonged postwar period of remarkable foreign ownership penetration, in the last two decades Italy lost its high position as a country of destination of worldwide inward FDI. At the beginning of the new millennium, Italy ranks about 13 th regarding the stock, and 21 st regarding the recent flows of inward FDI. The share of industrial emplo...

Are advanced countries bound to follow a specialisation path in their innovation activities? This paper contributes to the issue by analysing the dynamic of innovation activities in telecommunications (TLCs) at the country level. Our claim is that countries are more likely to innovate in a product class if they have invented the dominant design in...

The present paper aims at providing a coherent theoretical framework to develop hypotheses regarding the recent international expansion of MNBs, relying on the theory of the MNC. Prior studies have typically focused on the commitment level adopted by the banks upon foreign markets or on the choice between different organisational forms, while the p...

Electronic commerce promises to be the drive behind a new wave of economic growth. Yet, the actual achievement of the prospected benefits and their allocation will depend on the features of the business models driving the diffusion of the new sales channel. The paper rejects the existence of a deterministic relation between e-commerce technological...

Il presente lavoro si propone di indagare la relazione tra investimenti diretti esteri (IDE) in attivita' industriali e la variazione dell'intensita' di lavoro della produzione interna al paese di origine degli IDE stessi. L'analisi, riferita al nostro paese ed al periodo 1985-1995, Š stata sviluppata in modo da stimare non solo gli effetti diretti...

Linee evolutive nell'industria delle telecomunicazioni (di Paola Garrone, Sergio Mariotti) - The ecology of the telecommunication (Tlc) services industry is rapidly and deeply changing. The traditionally integrated filiere of Tlc networks and services has been disrupted by the joint action of technological change and liberalisation, and the resulti...

In recent years, supply relationships have undergone a process of change which the authors interpret as the transition from an adversarial model of vertical relations regulated by the invisible hand of market competition, to one based on cooperation and organized by the visible hand of the buyer. The term “organized vertical market” is proposed for...

This paper relies on the eclectic paradigm of foreign direct investments and Porter's theory on the competitive advantages of nations to study the localisation of target firms of international M&As by European enterprises. Firms' propensities towards extra- and infra-European acquisitions are correlated with the competitive position of European nat...

The literature on foreign direct investments (FDIs) has analysed the location strategies of multinational enterprises across national borders, but there have been few studies of location decisions by foreign investors within the borders of a single country. The paper argues that the driving factors of these location choices have differing influence...

In this paper we propose a conceptual model to analyse innovations originating from the diffusion of Information Technologies in the banking sector. We argue that technical change in this industry exhibits a revolutionary character. A distinction is made between the ‘mass automation’ regime, focusing mainly on the mechanization of back-office proce...

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of computer-based production technologies on firms' choice of governance mode for vertical transactions. We argue that in the long run diffusion of the new technologies should lead to a wider use of arm's length relationships with suppliers of increasingly standardized intermediate goods. In the ea...

Contrarily to most previous contributions which have addressed the issue of cooperative agreements essentially in a perspective of comparative statics, in this paper a model is proposed that relies on the technological trajectory notion suggested by evolutionary theories and emphasizes the relevance of the technological and market dynamics in expla...

Data on the diffusion of flexible automation systems in the Italian metalworking industry are used to point out the role of size for the adoption of complex, systemic innovations. Plant and firm sizes turn out to be positively correlated to adoption rates. Moreover, adoption is more likely, ceteris paribus, in plants which are part of large industr...

The aim of this paper is to provide evidence supporting an evolutionary model of the process of innovation diffusion. Relying on an extensive field study, the paper analyses the pattern of adoption of the entire set of innovations deriving from the flexible automation paradigm on the part of a large sample of Italian metalworking firms. Owing to th...

This paper argues that the structural evolution of the textile-clothing industry is mainly the result of organizational innovations to economize on transactional costs and increase the dynamic efficiency of firms. The rise of managerial hierarchies in the coordination of diversified activities, the drop in the number of vertical hierarchical arrang...

This study analyzes the structural efficiency of an industry by evaluating multi-product multi-plant economies of scale. In particular, unit production costs of multi- and single-plant firms are compared, assuming the average product mix of the industry. In this spirit, after quantifying product-specific and plant-specific economies and diseconomie...

This paper is based on the results of a field work analysis of the cotton weaving industry, focusing on the relationships between performance, size and structure of firms. The results are utilized to compare models of the industries in the main European countries and to evaluate their competitiveness in the light of both standard and some non-stand...

This chapter discusses an application of nonlinear programming and the optimum production strategy of multiplant firms. Generally a multiplant production strategy also entails an evaluation of delivery costs related to customer's geographic dispersion and to products features. It is found that because the industries one analyzes are characterized b...

This paper deals with the agglomeration of economic activities in Italy. By using the Guimaraes et al. (2004) version of the Ellison & Glaeser (1994) index, we test the hypothesis that the determinants of agglomeration differ in significance, intensity and sign between multinational and national firms. The data concerning the agglomeration of 112 m...

The study explores the impact of the local endowment of both human and infrastructural capital on the creation of new technology-based firms (NTBFs) in the 103 Italian provinces in the 1996-2005 period. Our empirical results indicate that both human and infrastructural capital have a significant positive effect on NTBFs’ entry rates, although the i...

The paper focuses on some structural weaknesses of the Italian industrial system with respect to other industrialised and emerging countries and argues that the country needs a deep structural change in its international production specialization in order to face the actual economic phase and possibly return to a faster pace of growth. In fact, in...

The paper informs about the courses of Industrial Economics and related disciplines held by academics spending their career in the Faculties of Engineering of Italian Universities.

This paper deals with the agglomeration of economic activities in Italy. By using the Guimaraes et al. [2004] version of the Ellison & Glaeser [1994] index, we test the hypothesis that the determinants of agglomeration differ in significance, intensity and sign between multinational and national firms. The data concerning the agglomeration of 112 m...